More to Life
Chapter Eight: Dumb Girls
Disclaimer: Marie,& Pierre are mine. The rest belong to JK Rowling (like you didn't already know that). "Dumb Girls" is property of Lucy Woodward and her record label.
I'd never believed it could happen to me
Something like this only happens to dumb girls
Taking themselves too seriously
I was so damn smart
I was the one girl
Who never believed it could happen to me
Something like this only happens to
Somebody else
I miss you so much I can't stand it
You bring out the blonde in me
Cause I'm still hanging on
Even though you done me wrong
And I've got the heart to forgive this
But I'll never let you know
What kind of girl would put herself in that position
To think that I could ever buck the system
And I got fooled again
Now I'm just a dumb girl
A dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb girl
That's what I am
Dumb Girls by Lucy Woodward
"Thanks," I said as Fred handed me a mug of tea. He sat down next to me on the couch, holding a mug of his own.
"No problem."
I took a sip and nearly choked. It was awful but I didn't want Fred to know that. "It's great."
Fred smiled. "You're a liar. This tastes terrible."
I laughed. "Yeah. I thought you said you could make tea."
"I did make tea. I didn't say I could make it well." He answered with a grin on his cute freckled face. Wait, did I just describe Fred Weasley as cute?
"Well, thanks anyway." I told him and he nodded in response.
"So..." he said after a minute. "Do you want to talk?"
Not really. In fact, I never wanted to hear the name Pierre again. But for some reason it just spilled out. I was talking out as if I couldn't get it out fast enough. "Pierre was sick, well he said he was sick, but he was lying, that's what he does he lies. You know what else he lied about? Everything. Everything. He has a fiancé? Did I mention that? Well, he does. And her name is Marie. And she is like super perfect. She's pretty and nice and pretty. And then he told me that he liked me over her. But I think he just said that because he already cheated on Marie and she probably wouldn't take him back. But he thought I would. Well I didn't. And you know what? I hate myself for doing it. I loved him, Fred. God, why am I telling you this? You don't need to hear my problems. I am such an idiot."
"Calm down, Mione." I told her, placing my arms on her shoulders. She was tense and talking a mile a minute. "You are not an idiot."
"Yes, I am." She moaned, covering her eyes with her hands. "I don't hate him. I hate me. I want him back."
I pulled her towards me into a hug. She relaxed a little. "It will get easier, I promise." I whispered in her ear.
She pulled back a little. "You think?"
"Yeah," I replied. Merlin, she looked so upset. I just wanted to hex Pierre as much as I could without getting shut up in Azkaban.
"I'm cold." Mione suddenly said, jumping up from the couch. "I need a sweater."
She headed out of the living room and down the hall. I followed her into her bedroom where she was already pulling a navy blue sweater out of her closet. "You know what you need? Fun."
"Fun?" Hermione asked, soundly extremely skeptical. "Fred, I just broke up with my boyfriend because he cheated on me. What should I do, throw a party?"
"No," I said ignoring her sarcasm. "Just lighten up. Let loose. Be a wild child."
"A wild child?" Hermione repeated. This cheering Hermione up thing? Not as easy as it looks.
"You know what? You are so tightly wound, I bet you've never even jumped on the bed." I told her.
Hermione did not smile. "You think that I am tightly wound?"
"What is there a parrot in the room? Because I think everything I say is being repeated."
"Fred..."
"Loosen up, Mione," I told her as I backed up for a running leap.
"FRED! NO!"
But it was too late. I took a running jump and flew onto her bed. But instead of a soft fluffy landing like I expected, there was a sharp stinging pain right above my eyebrow. "Mione?" I asked her, feeling the blood running down my face. "Is there glass in your bed?"
Hermione stifled a laugh. "Yes." She answered, not very well at hiding the giggles. I mean, I'm glad she's laughing and all but my cut really hurt."Care to explain?"
She was now no longer trying to hide her laughter. "I came home earlier and I saw a picture of Pierre and I threw it against the wall, the one my bed is pushed up against and I left it there to go find Lavender." She explained, her laughter quickly fading as she went along. By the end of her explanation, she was solemn once more. Hey, that sounded like something out of one of those boring "classic" muggle novels. "She was solemn once more..." You know, Dickens or Bronte or someone.
"Let's get that cleaned up," Hermione said after a minute, motioning for me to follow her into the bathroom.
"Oww!" I said as she applied some sort of liquid to it. "That hurt!"
"Oh, it doesn't hurt that bad," She told me.
"Yes, it does."
"You are so dramatic," She said, shaking her head but with a smile.
"Fred, can I ask you a question?" She said after a few moments of silence.
I nodded. "Don't nod while I am trying to bandage your forehead," She said, "Honestly, it's like dealing with a child."
"You're only young once, but you can be immature forever," I told her.
She shook her head with that pretty smile again. "Have you ever left someone because you knew it was what you were supposed to do, but later you totally regretted your decision even though you know it was for the best?"
I thought about it for a second. "No, but I've never really been in a serious romantic relationship."
"You're lucky," She said. She looked down at her feet and then suddenly pulled the sweater over her head.
"You're not cold anymore?" I asked, trying to be humourous.
"Pierre liked this sweater. He said it brought out the blue in my eyes." She said.
"I don't see the problem other than the fact that he is clearly gay."
"I can't wear this."
"Then pick a different sweater."
"Which one?"
"The pink one is nice."
"He liked that one too."
"Well, then wear this blue one. And if you say he liked that one too, I'm going to hex you."
"You aren't supposed to hex a girl, Fred."
"Well, you aren't supposed to annoy the person trying to cheer you up."
"Point taken."
"We should do something."
"Fred, you do realize that it is midnight?" I asked, suddenly aware of how tired I was and how energetic he seemed to be.
"You need to take your mind off that prat," he said, fingering the bandage on his forehead.
"Don't mess that up," I told him.
"You need fun. Let's do something crazy. Like sky diving. I've always wanted to do that." He said, taking his hand away from the bandage.
"I can't have fun. Not yet, anyway. I just need to think some stuff over. Maybe in a couple of days or something." I said, avoiding his eyes.
"You can have fun," He said.
"No, I can't," I said, feeling the tears rushing to my eyes. I wasn't going to cry. Not over him.
"Oh, Mione," Fred whispered, pulling me into a hug.
So much for the no-crying plan; the tears rushed down my face. I couldn't help it. "It's gonna be okay," he said, allowing me to cry on his shoulder.
It just seemed so surreal. Earlier that night, I was sitting in the exact same spot with Lavender, but she was sobbing on my shoulder. She was worried that her relationship was having problems and I thought that mine was absolutely perfect. Not four hours later and I am sitting here crying on Fred's shoulder about my failed relationship and Lavender is discussing wedding plans with her fiancé. Her fiancé. She gets a fiancé and I can't even get a decent boyfriend? How unfair is that?
"Oh my god!"
Where had I heard that high pitched voice before? More to the point, why was it in my bedroom?
I found the answer as soon as I opened my eyes. I was on the couch. But whose voice was that? I didn't see anyone.
"What is going on?"
I leaned back and sure enough, there was Lavender Brown standing there upside (because I was leaning back on the sofa. She wasn't really upside down) with her mouth hanging open.
Why in Merlin's name was she standing in my living room? And when did I get this purplish color sofa?
Then it hit me. I wasn't at my house. But where was I? Lavender's place, I guess. How did I get there?
"George?" Lavender said, carefully inching towards me as if I was some strange creature that was going to bite her.
"No, I'm Fred." I said, sitting up. Why on earth was I here?
"Why are you here?" She asked.
"Good question" I said desperately trying to come up with a reason why I had been sleeping in her apartment.
When I shifted on the sofa, I figured out why. Hermione was still asleep, her head on my shoulder. Sorry, when I'm half asleep it takes me awhile to notice things. Now that I was clearly thinking (well, sort of, it takes me awhile before I really wake up), I remembered that Hermione mentioned that she lived with Lavender. Lavender must have just come home.
"Hermione was upset last night." I said, gently scooting away from Hermione. Thankfully, she remained asleep.
"Why?" Lavender said, now setting her purse down since she knew the person sleeping on her sofa with her room mate wasn't a lunatic.
I glanced back at Hermione. I wasn't sure if I had the right to tell Lavender. But I knew for the past couple of years that Lavender was her best friend. Ron used to hate when she came over. Apparently, they fought a lot in school. Not hard to imagine, Ron is quite the pain in the arse.
"Pierre was cheating on her." I said, figuring that Hermione would tell her anyway. It's not like you can keep a breakup a secret forever.
Lavender clamped her hand to her mouth. "No!"
"Shh! Mione is sleeping. I think she needs it. She was really upset last night. I tried to cheer her up but she didn't want to go sky diving." I explained.
"What?" She shook her head. "Why didn't she tell me?" Lavender said and then smacked herself in the forehead. "Ah, jeez!"
"What?"
"I think she was trying to. She popped in at Seamus's apartment and did not look to happy and then I told her we were engaged and then she said what news she had could wait until today. Oh god, I should have been there for her." Lavender said, looking quite upset.
"She isn't mad at you," I said, glancing at the sleeping Hermione. "Tell her I had to leave but I'll stop by later, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Lavender replied quietly, sitting on the edge of the sofa, gently stroking Hermione's hair. "Thanks, Fred."
"What?" I asked.
Lavender continued to stare at Mione. "She's my friend I should have been there for her. Thanks for taking care of her."
"She's my friend too."
"Yeah. She's lucky to have you."
"I'm lucky to have her."
Lavender just smiled. "Do you like her?"
That caught me off guard. "What? Yes, I mean no, I mean I like her as a friend. Nothing more. Just a friend." I said, feeling the blood rush to my face. Merlin, Lavender may be pretty clueless at times but I bet that even she could tell that I was embarrassed. I mean when I turn redI turn red. I resemble a tomato. A tomato with a lot of freckles, but a tomato none the less.
"I'll see you later." She said with that smile on her face. She knew. Maybe she wasn't as clueless as I thought. But then again, I did turn bright red when she asked. Even Ron can tell when I am embarrassed. And that's saying something.
"Fred!" Another high pitched voice said, surprising me as I popped into my apartment. Who was this voice? And why was she in my apartment?
"Fred!" It repeated. I turned around and Marie was standing in the kitchen, wearing the same clothes she had last night. Weird.
"Hey," I said, setting my jacket down on the kitchen table. "So how did it go?"
"Wonderful!" She cried, absolutely shocking me. Well it would shock anyone, that's not normally how a person acts when they are cheated on and break off their engagement. "We broke up! Where were you last night? I came back 'ere but you weren't 'ome."
"I went to talk to Hermione before she found out from Pierre. I got there a little too late."
"Oh, I know. I met 'er in ze elevator." Marie nodded.
"What?"
"I met 'er at Pierre's apartment. She is very nice. I like 'er. We could be friends." Marie explained, munching on a pop tart. Wait, why was she eating breakfast here?
"Really. Did you wait here the whole night?" I asked.
"Yes. No. Sort of." Marie replied, looking quite confused.
"What?"
"I came over after I broke up with Pierre. 'ermione was still with him, zough. Is she okay?"
"She's been better."
"Oh. I want to meet 'er one day. We 'ave a lot of zings in common. We both like ze same zype of men, obviously." She wanted to hang out with the girl that her fiancé cheated on her with? Marie definitely wasn't like any others.
"Um, all right, we'll figure that out later. About you spending the night here?"
"Oh, right! Well, I came over. And you weren't 'ere. But you knew zat. Anyway, I met your roommate, Ollie. 'e attacked me with ze remote."
"You are calling him Ollie?" I said. Oliver allowed no one to call him Ollie. He even corrected his mother once when she called him that. And believe me, I would not suggest talking back to Mrs. Wood. If you thought Hermione could be bossy when she was a prefect (I love Hermione. Don't blame me for saying that, you know it's true), then you haven't seen anything until you've met Mrs. Wood. Once she came over and our apartment wasn't very tidy. After all that yelling, we have never even left the empty toilet paper roll on the holder and we never ever again mixed the beach towels with the bath towels. Don't laugh at me, you have never seen the wrath of Mrs. Wood. "And what about the remote?
"Yeah. Zat's 'is name." Marie told me, waving the hand with the strawberry iced pop tart in it, completely ignoring the remote comment.
"Oh. I've just always called him Oliver. Anyway, what happened with Oliver?"
"Oh, we watched a movie!" Marie said, brandishing her pop tart. "Back to ze Future! It 'as a car in it! Marty McFly is so cool!"
"You watched Back to the Future? All night?"
"No, silly. Zen we watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off and zen we watched ze Princess Diaries and zen we watched ze Mighty Ducks and zen we zalked. Ollie is so much fun. 'e knows all ze lines! Like me! Well I knew ze lines in French but I am getting better at zranslating. We 'ad so much fun, Fred!"
"Are you like dating Oliver?"
"We are friends, Fred!"
"Oh, okay. Are you dating Hermione?"
"What's this?" Oliver said, wandering into the kitchen, still wearing his pajamas.
"Fred likes 'ermione."
Oliver raised his eyebrow. "Really? Oh, wait, I knew that."
"Way to go, Brains," I said with sarcasm.
"Where have you been all night?" Oliver asked, running his hands through his messed up hair.
"At Hermione's."
"Way to go. I honestly did not think that she would date a guy like you."
"Thanks, but we're not dating."
"I knew it."
"Prat."
"So why were you over there?"
"She broke up with Pierre! I told you zat!" Marie said, whacking him with her hand holding the pop tart. A bit stuck to Oliver's sleeve. Neither one of them noticed. I tried to stifle my laughter.
"Oww! That hurt."
"Well, you deserved it."
Oliver ignored that. "I'm going to make breakfast. Anyone want some?"
Marie just held her pop tart up in the air. Whatever that meant.
"What are you making?" I asked him, wary of Oliver's cooking skills. Or lack thereof.
"Um, waffles?"
"Yeah, I'm just gonna crash. I'm kind of tired."
"Suit yourself."
I know Marie said that they were just friends but I swore when I started to walk away in the corner of my eye, his hand intertwined with hers. Maybe I didn't see it. But I sort of hoped I did. They both had their share of heartbreaks. They fit well together.
"Good morning, Sunshine," Lavender said as I walked into the kitchen. "Come here, let me give you a hug."
"How did you know?" I asked as she hugged me.
"Fred. He said he'll talk to you later, but he had to go."
"Oh, Merlin! Fred! When did he leave?"
"Like nine this morning."
"He spent the night?"
"You were both asleep on the couch when I came home."
"And when was that?"
Lavender blushed. "Like nine this morning."
"Oh let me see the ring!" I said, grabbing her hand. "It's so pretty! This must have cost Seamus a small fortune!"
Lavender smiled. "Yeah. I love him." Then she paused and just looked at me. "Mione, are you sure you are okay?"
I dropped her hand. "No, but I will be."
"I know you will but let's do something. Something to get your mind off him."
"Fred suggested sky diving."
"You want to go sky diving? Cause if you want to do that, you have to go find him. I love you to death Mione but I don't think I'd jump out of a plane for you. No ma'am."
"No! I don't want to jump out of a plane!"
"I have the perfect idea. I know what can make any girl feel better! SHOPPING!"
"You want to buy your wedding dress?" I asked.
"Nah, that can wait. Woah, I never would have believed that I would ever say that."
"What do you want to shop for?"
"Anything! All shopping is good!"
"Lavender, I don't really feel like going out. I just want to mope."
"Mope?" Lavender said, raising one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "You mean wallow? Why would you want to do something like that?"
"Lavender, may I remind you that you moped around for four days when you broke up with Van? And you didn't even like Van. In fact, weren't you the one who called the relationship off?" I pointed out.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. He was cute though wasn't he?"
I rolled my eyes and Lavender laughed. "There's my Hermione!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I teased.
Lavender just smiled. "C'mon, we'll wallow together. There's some mint chocolate chip ice cream in the fridge."
"Thanks," I whispered as she wrapped her arm around me.
I woke up a couple of hours later not feeling any better than when I had fallen asleep. But I had to get up, George was expecting me to work today. I grabbed a quick shower and started to head out the door when I heard voices from Oliver's room.
"I am a publicist for my father's company and I work as a model for advertisements." Marie said in her French accent.
"I thought I had seen you somewhere before."
"Zey just started to show ze latest commercial. It is for ze soda pop drink-"
"I saw that! You were riding the motorcycle and deliver the pink soda to the thirsty girl-"
"Zat's ze one!"
"That is so cool."
"Ze motorcycle was fake, zough. It didn't really fly."
"I figured as much."
Marie was a model? Well, I guess she had the looks. I just didn't expect that. She seemed so –how can I say it? Not self absorbed?
"You are late." George snapped as I walked in the door a few minutes later.
"By like thirty seconds," I told him. He grumbled. He knew I was right.
"Well, what if I had somewhere to be?"
"Did you?"
"No, but what if I did?"
"But you didn't."
"But what if I did?"
"But you didn't."
"But I could have."
"But you didn't."
"But I could have."
"But you didn't."
"But I could have."
"Both of you, shut up!" Ginny hollered from behind the cash register.
"You shut up!" was our intelligent response.
I must admit. I kind of like wallowing. Just sitting in my bed with Lavender, both of us in pajamas, eating ice cream and the pizza we had delivered (You should have seen the delivery boy's face when Lavender answered the door in her pajamas at two in the afternoon.) while watching How to Lose A Guy in Ten Days. It reminds you of all the hassles of dating.
Lavender stuck her spoon back in the ice cream container. "I know what will make you feel better. List all of his bad points."
"I don't know..."
"C'mon, this is just one of those that you have to go through. The sooner you do it, the sooner you realize how much better you are without him."
"His bad points...um, well he cheats."
"Yeah, that's bad." Lavender mumbled through a mouthful of ice cream.
"He did this flippy thing with his hair that I hated"
"A flippy thing?"
"You know like how you flip your hair."
"Are you serious? He does that? Oh, Merlin, is he weird."
"You do it too."
"But I have long pretty hair and it looks good when I do it. Plus, I'm a girl. I'm allowed to hair flip."
"True."
Lavender swallowed another spoonful of ice cream. "So tell me about Marie, it she like a total witch?
I put down my pizza. "You aren't going to believe this, but she was really nice."
"His fiancé was nice?"
"Yea! It was so weird. I have seen her somewhere before but I just can't place her. Really long dark hair with baby blue eyes. Kind of pale skin with a few dark freckles. Tall and really slim but not anorexic. Her name is Marie Alexandria, I think."
Lavender's eyes doubled in size. "Marie Alexandria? As in the supermodel?"
"You think she is a supermodel?"
"Be right back." She said disappearing into her room and emerging again with a magazine. "This her?"
Right on the front cover stared back the ex fiancé of my ex boyfriend. "Oh my god. I thought she looked like a supermodel but I didn't think she actually was one. Pierre said that she was a publicist."
"She is. She does both." Lavender answered. "I love her. She seems so cool. Do you think that you could introduce me?"
I just looked at her. "Oh, Merlin, I cannot believe I just asked you that." Lavender cringed and then laughed.
I laughed and took the magazine out of her hand. Opening to page forty six, I found a three page article on the supermodel/publicist.
Marie Alexandria. What do you think of when you hear that name? Supermodel for Sizzling Sorceress Clothing line? Publicist for Alexandria Books? How about generous?
A lot comes to mind when you think of the gorgeous model. But she's more than good looks. Love Potion magazine's Samantha Coleman gets the inside scoop on the hot star's life while spending the day in London looking for a gift to give to one special girl...
First of all, let me say this. Marie Alexandria is about the least self absorbed person, let alone celebrity, that I have ever met. We planned to meet at Tea Leaves Café to start off our day. Not only does Marie show up, she shows up a whole half an hour early! (I wish other celebs could be so courteous) And she arrives alone! No assistant to hold her purse or jacket or to run and fetch her coffee. She arrives in a plain blue tee shirt paired with slightly worn in jeans and high tops. What, no ten karat diamonds and designer labels?
Marie laughs when I tell her this. "I think that I have had this tee shirt since the eleventh grade," she laughs. "Why get rid of it if it's not bad? I mean, what's the difference between plain blue tee shirts? I don't need a fancy label on the inside tag. A blue tee shirt is a blue tee shirt."
We grab coffee to go and start our walk looking for the gift. I ask Marie about which job she likes more. "I love them both. I love working in my father's company. I am around family all the time, which is absolutely wonderful. I mean, if I hadn't worked there during high school, I would have never even had the modeling job. One of my father's clients wanted a model for the book jacket and asked for the one that he had seen hanging around the front desk. He actually thought I was a model! I still wonder what he was thinking! Me, tall gawky clumsy Marie, a supermodel? My friends still joke about it! But the job led to bigger things and got me through college, which is totally awesome."
We check in one store but Marie doesn't see what she is looking for; she still hasn't revealed what she is looking for. I ask her about her love life and how being a model has affected it. The twenty four year old blushes. "I must say that it has improved it!" she laughs. I mention past boyfriends and this causes more laughter. "Yeah, I got phone calls from two former boyfriends after I was in the Sizzling Sorceress ads. I just laughed when they mentioned getting back together. Those two were losers! I think the best boyfriend I had was my kindergarten classmate! We used to hold hands and play together all the time. Well, at least until he realized that girls have "cooties"!"
I mentioned her fiancé, Pierre Gregory, an author on her father's client list. "I met Pierre one day when he dropped his manuscript off at the office. We got to talking and then went out ice skating later that evening. We've been together ever since that day! It turned out we went to the same college."
When I ask Marie about her next project she says "Well, next week I am going to shoot the ads for the next season's line of clothing for Sorceress. Then I'm working on planning my wedding! There have been talks of acting, but I'm not sure yet. I might go back to school for a bit. I love taking classes."
After seven more stores, Marie finally finds the gift she is going to give away to one lucky. At first I am quite puzzled by Marie's choice. A pale pink book bag, but she's quick to explain. "Education is the most important thing a girl can have. I pick this book bag for a reader. She'll need something to carry her books in when she goes to school. And I need something to put the check in." she explains.
That's right. Marie Alexandria is paying for one girl's back to school supplies. This gift includes the book bag picked out by Marie, the school books, a new wardrobe, additional supplies and an appearance in Marie's next ad for Sizzling Sorceress! And you know what makes this prize so cool? Marie came up with the idea herself!
Keep an eye out for Marie. This month's cover girl is will be featured in the fall catalogue for her clothing sponsor. She is also due to start filming her first movie co-starring the adorable Nathan Nottingham later this year! Marie is definitely a star here to stay!
-Samantha Coleman
"She is really nice." I said, still looking at the magazine.
Lavender looked at me. "Well at least it can give you comfort about something."
"What?"
"Pierre is definitely messed up! I mean, even supermodel Marie couldn't hold on to him! What idiot cheats on a supermodel? He has issues!"
"Merlin! I just thought of something!"
"What?"
"Marie and Pierre are both pretty well known! What if this mess comes out to the public? Marie is a hot topic right now!"
Lavender looked at me and gently set down her spoon. "Oh, no......"
Author's Note: Hey thanks so much for reading and reviewing. Also, as you probably noticed I changed my pen name. I'm now Preppy in Pink. (Pink is my favorite color) It's still the same person, just different name.
Please, please, review!
Preppy in Pink
